Monday, August 17, 2015

Elul

“Oh no, not
a good sign,” my husband announced.

He was
referring to the three cars double parked in The Old City of Jerusalem, on the
street right before the entrance to the Jewish Quarter. I bit my lip in
consternation. Had we been totally foolish to come on the morning of the first
day of the month of Elul?

“Maybe
someone will be leaving as we drive by,” he ventured hopefully.

“Maybe,” I
agreed, but as he snaked down the hill and made a right turn by Dung Gate we
saw that not only were there no empty spots, several cars were parked
illegally.

“We’ll try
the first parking lot.” My husband was staying optimistic, except that the
entrance was blocked. At the second one we did find a space. However, as we got out of the car we realized
it was a spot for motorcycles.

“We’ll go
around again. Maybe something opened up.”

Two minutes
later, though, we spotted a legal spot on the left side of the street. After a
quick u-turn my husband parked neatly and set the parking meter. Our walk was
ten minutes longer than normal and the heat wave was already full force at
seven in the morning, but that didn’t matter to us. We’d made it to the Kotel.

Although we
try to go every week many people aren’t so privileged and visit only for
special occasions like holidays and new months. The beginning of Elul, the
month that falls before Rosh Hashanah, always draws a big crowd. As we made fast strides down the street I
remembered a particular visit to the Kotel on the second day of Elul six years
ago.

It was our
oldest grandson’s third birthday. His parents kept the custom of waiting until
he was three to cut his hair and they chose a spot in the Old City overlooking
the Kotel to hold the ceremony. Not only was it the second day of Elul, it was
also the beginning of Ramadan and Friday, a day off for many in Israel. The Old
City was packed with Jews, Arabs, and tourists from everywhere. Many stopped to
watch as we took snips of my grandson’s hair. With each snip my husband blew
his shofar, we sang and clapped, and my daughter-in-law offered cookies in the
shape of Hebrew letters to the on-lookers.

That was six
years ago. There have been some minor changes at the Kotel since then. A new
building, an office for the Rabbi of the Kotel, was completed. The women’s
plaza was enlarged. And the bathrooms have been refurbished. What, I wondered would another four years
bring?

Passing the worshipers outside I heard all kinds of prayers: prayers with songs, prayers
with tears, prayers with cries that came from the heart. Suddenly it hit me.
Not only was it the first day of Elul. It was forty days until Yom Kippur. I
had forty days to prepare myself for the awesome day of forgiveness. Would I be
able to meet the task? I entered the tunnels and instead of the handful of
women normally there I saw dozens. Yet, no one pushed. No one shoved. No one
fought over the sparse amount of chairs.

Maybe we
were all truly preparing ourselves properly for the Days of Awe. Maybe, just
maybe, this would be the year that we would do it. Maybe we really could bring
the Moshiach. And then, in another four years, instead of having my grandson’s
Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel we could have it at The Holy Temple. May our prayers
make it happen!

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Aim of Blog

Emunah, faith in God, does not mean believing only good things will happen; it means believing that whatever God does is for the best. I wrote these words at a time when drive-by shootings and suicide bombers had become almost weekly, if not daily, tragedies. Now, more than ten years later, the words are no less true. Whatever HaShem does is for the best. It is my hope to post articles, advice, and homey stories everyweekwhich will reinforce this fact. And now, a special thanks to:

Batya Medad, my neighbor and experienced blogger. Without her I would never have been able to set up

About Me

Born in Wichita, Kansas, I became a Baalat Teshuva, newly religious, in Phoenix, Arizona while attending ASU. After twelve years of marriage my husband and I made Aliyah with five children and settled in Shilo in the heart of Israel. Two more children joined the family as have daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, Baruch HaShem. My favorite past times are learning, sewing, hiking, reading, cooking, baking, enjoying my family and friends, and, of course, writing. My first novel, Sondra’s Search, was published in 2007 and I am working on the sequel.